1. Field of the Invention
Proper in-furrow insecticide-fungicide and seed placement is an important problem which faces growers annually during the planting season. The problem includes application of toxic, systemic, liquid or granular insecticides and/or fungicides in close proximity to seeds as the seeds are expelled in spaced relationship in furrows created by the seed planter, to minimize attack by organisms such as thrips. The proper placement of the insecticide/fungicide directly in the furrows is crucial to avoid environmental damage, and effective location with respect to the seeds helps to avoid seed damage and positions the insecticide/fungicide in position such that young, emerging roots of the germinated seed are able to contact the treatment material, pick it up and translocate it. When the insecticide/fungicide is spaced too far from the seeds, the emerging roots are able to pick up less of the material, resulting in inadequate protection for the growing plant. It is accepted by experts in the agricultural field that either the tap root or the feeder roots that spring from the germinating seeds must be in an insecticide/fungicide material to effect optimum protection of the plant.
It has also been found that streaking insecticide or fungicide in the field is environmentally abusive and a waste of money, since many of the insecticide/fungicide materials are toxic and expensive, making proper placement of the insecticide/fungicide in the furrows with respect to the seed at each seed deposition, highly important. Improper seed insecticide/fungicide placement results in the requirement of additional expensive folier application and increases the expense of the crop, as well as the risk to the environment.
Conventional planting devices are fitted with both seed distribution tubes and insecticide tubes, the seed distribution tubes being used to uniformly deposit seeds in spaced relationship in furrows created by the planter and the insecticide tubes utilized to distribute insecticide and/or fungicide in the furrows in close proximity to each seed before the seed and insecticide/fungicide are covered with earth by the planter. In a typical application, the seed and insecticide/fungicide are sufficiently spaced to optimize the desired protective effects of the insecticide/fungicide on the seeds and the plants emerging from the seeds. However, far too often, the insecticide/fungicide is not accurately delivered to the furrows and may be spilled randomly in the earth adjacent to the furrows, where it presents a danger to the environment and fails to properly treat the germinating seeds.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An article entitled "Precision Placement of In-Furrow Insecticide Reduces Costs" in the "Cotton Farming" magazine, 35th Anniversary Issue, dated March, 1992, describes a pipe welded to the bracket that holds the insecticide granule tube of a planter, to extend the insecticide tube and facilitate deposition of insecticide granules closer to the ground near the bottom of the furrows. Various other attachments are known in the art for use with seed planters in applying fertilizer and the like in furrows during planting. U.S. Pat. No. 2,903,982, dated Sep. 15, 1959, to D. W. Floy, details a "Liquid Fertilizer Attachment for a Corn Planter". The attachment includes a jet-pipe attached to a supply hose, which is, in turn, connected to a tank containing liquid fertilizer. The pipe is then projected through or into a corn planter runner and is adapted to apply a stream of liquid fertilizer simultaneously with planting of the corn. U.S. Pat. No. 2,968,266, dated Jan. 17, 1961, to A. W. Gastafson, details an "Apparatus For Treating Soil during Planting". The device includes equipment which is mounted on a conventional planting apparatus, such that a single device for mixing the chemicals may serve multiple rows by using planting apparatus and equipment driven by the power takeoff of a tractor. The planting apparatus forms a part of the equipment for mixing the chemicals with the soil. U.S. Pat. No. 2,990,186, dated Jun. 27, 1961, to E. S. Gandrud, details a "Device for Spreading Granular Material". The device includes a distributor head having vertically-disposed front and rear walls and downwardly-diverging sidewalls and defining an inlet opening in its upper end and an open bottom for discharging material. A baffle structure in the head between the inlet opening and the open bottom includes multiple baffle sections, wherein one of the generally vertical walls may be quickly and easily removed for easy access to the baffle section for adjustment and cleaning. The device is designed to spread granular material in multiple rows over planted seeds in a field. A "Tube Connector" is detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,120,965, dated Feb. 11, 1964, to J. A. MacDonald. The tube connector is characterized by a connector device wherein a first tube can be connected to a second tube at any convenient level along the length of the ladder and at any point on the circumference, at that level. U.S. Pat. No. 3,399,638, dated Sep. 3, 1968, to J. E. Aldrum, et al, details an "Agricultural Spray Device". Disclosed is a low volume agricultural liquid spray device which includes a reservoir for the liquid to be sprayed and a feed mechanism to deliver the liquid under constant head to a spindle having a bore which defines a flow path. A spray device depends from the spindle and a drive system operates to rotate the spindle at a predetermined rate about its axis, wherein the spray device also rotates at the predetermined rate to dispense low volumes of agricultural liquid in a uniform, relatively coarse spray. U.S. Pat. No. 4,276,836, dated Jul. 7, 1981, to W. H. Pust, details a "Grain Drill Utilizing A Fertilizer Spout and Adjustable Deflector Therefor". The grain drill includes a furrow opener, a forwardly-disposed seed distribution spout, a rearwardly-disposed fertilizer spout and a deflector plate positioned beneath the fertilizer spout, so that a desired quantity of the fertilizer discharged from the lower end of the fertilizer spout is deflected laterally. The deflector plate is adjustable forwardly and rearwardly with respect to the seed distribution spout, so that the quantity of fertilizer flowing over the forward edge of the deflector plate can be controlled by the position of the forward edge of the deflector plate with respect to the seed distribution spout. A "Liquid Fertilizer Attachment" is detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,580,506, dated Apr. 8, 1986, to Matthew W. Fleischer, et al. The device includes a fertilizer knife adapted to be attached to a planter. A housing is adjustably attached to the fertilizer knife and an adjustable mechanism is provided for permitting the knife to be adjusted vertically with respect to the housing, thereby adjusting the effective depth that the fertilizer, in liquid form, will be released. The fertilizer knife is attached to the housing, wherein the fertilizer knife will accurately track in front of the line into which the seeds are being planted and this pivoting feature also permits the fertilizer knife to be deflected to one side or the other temporarily, when rocks or other potentially damaging obstructions are encountered. The fertilizer knife has a leading edge extending from a point in close proximity to a vertical pivotal axis and tapers downwardly and rearwardly from that axis. My U.S. Pat. No. 5,271,343, which issued on Dec. 21, 1993, details a tube alignment bracket for aligning insecticide/fungicide tubes with the seed distribution tube of a planter. Other patents which are pertinent to the subject of this application are as follows: U.S. Pat. No. 1,906,351, dated May 2, 1933; U.S. Pat. No. 1,905,767, dated Apr. 25, 1933; U.S. Pat. No. 3,891,332, dated Jun. 24, 1975; U.S. Pat. No. 1,921,886, dated Aug. 8, 1933; U.S. Pat. No. 2,623,483, dated Dec. 30, 1952; U.S. Pat. No. 2,861,527, dated Nov. 25, 1958; U.S. Pat. No. 3,888,446, dated Jun. 10, 1975; U.S. Pat. No. 4,424,757, dated Jan. 10, 1984; U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,794, dated Sep. 2, 1986; U.S. Pat. No. 5,025,736,dated Jun. 25, 1991; U.S. Pat. No. 5,033,398, dated Jul. 23, 1991; U.S. Pat. No. 4,388,878, dated Jun. 21, 1983; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,136,954, dated Aug. 11, 1992.
It is an object of this invention to provide a new and improved tube alignment bracket for aligning the insecticide/fungicide tube on tubes of a planter with a planter seed distribution tube to facilitate application of liquid insecticide or fungicide in selected close proximity to seeds as the seeds are sequentially deposited in furrows created by the planter.
Another object of this invention is to provide a new and improved tube alignment bracket for mounting on or extending integrally from the respective seed distribution tube of a seed planter, accepting the discharged ends of the insecticide tubes and aligning the insecticide tubes in selected, adjustable proximity to the discharge ends of the seed distribution tubes along the respective furrows to insure application of liquid insecticide/fungicide from the insecticide tubes in furrows in close proximity to the seeds as the seeds are deposited into furrows.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a plastic or fiberglass tube alignment bracket for aligning the discharge ends of multiple, respective insecticide tubes and seed distribution tubes in a seed planter, which tube alignment bracket includes an elongated, I beam-shaped leg plate, one end of which is slotted or perforated and the other end of which extends from a bracket plate mounted on a corresponding seed distribution tube, the leg plate strengthened by a pair of braces and gussets. The slot or multiple holes in the extending end of the leg plate receive multiple cylindrical tube mounts or fittings which stabilize the respective insecticide tubes and position the discharge ends of the insecticide tubes in a selected close proximity to the discharge ends of the respective seed distribution tubes, for depositing the insecticide or fungicide liquid in close proximity to the seeds when the seeds are deposited in the furrow.